Portfolios and the Job Search

At the University of Pittsburgh, most teaching portfolios are prepared in anticipation of a job search, so this section will focus primarily on creating a portfolio as part of an application for an academic teaching position. Teaching portfolios are becoming more common in the job application process, as universities place a higher priority on teaching in response to public demands for quality education.

A teaching portfolio should be tailored to the specific position to which you are applying. Small, predominately undergraduate colleges obviously have different teaching objectives than large research institutions. Make certain you have a clear idea of the school’s teaching mission and the type of teaching that will be expected (introductory courses, large lecture classes, seminars, survey courses for non-majors) so that you can maximize the effectiveness of your portfolio in your application. Just as in applying to graduate school, it is a good idea to contact the university or college to find out about the needs and priorities of that particular institution. Most universities advertise that they have a strong commitment to teaching, but you should speak to faculty members or students to get a truer picture of the institution’s priorities. Specifically ask about the emphasis placed on teaching abilities in hiring or tenure decisions. Junior or recently tenured faculty members are often good resources for candid information about the “culture” of a particular department or school.

Keep in mind that universities annually review hundreds of applications. As a result, quality, not quantity, is the key to a good teaching portfolio. Not all universities will require a full-length portfolio, but if you have developed a complete portfolio, you will be able to pick and choose the most appropriate material to insert for each position that you seek. Furthermore, some teaching assistants and teaching fellows have found that by taking time to prepare a full portfolio they were better prepared to articulately answer questions during an interview.

A teaching portfolio is a documentary history of your teaching philosophy, experience, and evaluation. Increasingly popular, teaching portfolios are a means of reflecting on your teaching objectives and can be a useful way to record what you have done in the classroom and what you would like to change. Perhaps most important, they are often a significant part of a young academic’s job application.

Creating a teaching portfolio is a worthwhile (but time-consuming) process. The earlier in your career that you begin to document your teaching experience the easier the process will be.

Types of Teaching Portfolios

·  Reflection. A teaching portfolio can be a systematic means for instructors to reflect on and improve their teaching. The process of articulating teaching goals and then documenting how these goals are met is central to creating a portfolio, and it offers insight into your teaching approach. Creating a portfolio reveals both those areas in which you excel as a teacher and those in which you might wish to improve.

·  Evaluation. In some universities, teaching portfolios are used as the basis for evaluating teaching assistants’ progress or as part of a tenure review (or post-tenure review). Generally, portfolios designed to highlight teaching accomplishment are prepared by individual instructors and are then reviewed by a committee of colleagues or supervisors.

·  Curriculum Development. Some departments and/or universities have begun using teaching portfolios as the basis for curriculum development. In this case, instructors prepare and exchange portfolios as a basis for discussion about the department’s overall goals for instruction. The portfolio can demonstrate how an individual instructor’s teaching style and course content fit into the department’s goals.

Teaching Philosophy Statement

It is particularly important to tailor this portion of a teaching portfolio for each institution to which you are applying. This statement is generally viewed as a guide or cover letter that introduces both you, the applicant, and the rest of the portfolio. Since it may be the only part of the portfolio that a busy search committee reads, make it memorable. Keep it short (no more than two pages) and concrete. Do not waste space on obvious or vapid generalizations. Everyone, for example, thinks it’s important to be a “good” teacher; it’s much more significant and memorable to explain why you would include Tony Morrison’s novels in a reading list for a course on American slavery or to explain why you feel an introductory Geology class is important for non-majors. You should think of the philosophy statement as a map to the portfolio that follows. The materials that you include in the portfolio should illustrate points that you include in your philosophy.